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Anhinga with red-brown neck?
I spotted an anhinga with an unusual coloration that I can't recall seeing previously. This one had the pattern of a juvenile or female with the different colored upper-half/neck area...but instead of the usual buff tan color, this one had a very distinct chestnut to reddish brown color. The colors seemed more like what other darter species in Asia look like - I couldn't recall ever seeing an anhinga with this coloration, and no other anhinga at Wakodatchee (out of 40+) had colors like this one.
Is this something that is normal and can occur with anhingas, a rare color variation, some kind of hybrid? I've attached a photo of the bird - it really stood out even from 70 feet away - that reddish color really popped compared to all the other birds on the island.
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This came up recently on the Florida Birding and Rarities page. Someone put up a similar picture of an anhinga and the consensus was that it was caused by iron staining. The poster thought it was "Erythrism, a genetic mutation which causes rufous coloring." But others argued against that since that apparently would affect the entire bird and not only part of the bird as pictured here and on the facebook anhinga as well.
Thank you Joseph. I hadn't considered staining, though someone else mentioned that possibility to me on a forum when I asked about this bird, mentioning that sandhill cranes sometimes stain this color.
I agree that the genetic explanation doesn't seem too believable because of the upper part of the neck which is the more typical buff color...and I was dubious on this being a hybrid or exotic like an 'anhinga rufa' since it didn't have any sign of the white striping and the black around the face seems more in line with our anhinga anhingas.
We have a bird like this in our fresh water lake. It's a female Anhinga rufa, [snake bird, darter] African subspecies It's not from staining. These birds are endangered, no breeding or repopulation plans. I suppose all seen should be reported under rare bird sightings.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22696705/110665322
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